Prince and President escalate battle over Khashoggi killing

ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed into the wood-paneled parliament of Ankara Tuesday to plan his most direct attack on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and accused his government of "brutal murder" and mutilation of the country dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi.

Hours later, Prince Mohammed jumped into the gilded conference room of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh to win standing ovations from several oil executives, bankers and other businessmen, the risk of the scandal over killing Mr. Khashoggi for a chance to benefit from the huge wealth of the kingdom.

"More people, more money," said the Crown Prince to reporters and told the event despite withdrawing dozens of speakers and appealing to many for a hit businessmen to spare them embarrassment by retrieving it.

Their competing stage shows on Tuesday were the latest salvos in ever-increasing engagements, a battle that apparently leaves no room for retreat and bumps two American allies who both want to be the leader of their region.

In their first punitive expedition in the three weeks since their disappearance, the government also said it would revoke the 21 Saudis' visa suspected of killing Mr. Khashoggi, a resident of Virginia and columnist of the Washington Post, having killed

. Erdogan's speech on Tuesday took advantage of international excitement over killing to inflict as much damage as possible on the Crown Prince's public image, which has sold himself as a courageous reformer and central ally in the West. At the same time, Mr. Erdogan kept his biggest weapon in reserve: the release of a sound recording and other evidence that Turkish officials said had been assassinated.

With his own demonstration of political muscle at the Investor Conference, Prince Mohammed demonstrated his refusal to step back in the face of the scandal, demonstrating that the temptation of the state's vast oil reserves and sovereign wealth fund could, in spite of the backlash, force managers to pay tribute numbers.

It hardly seemed to mean empty rows of gilded chairs at the afternoon sessions. The Saudi Arabian King said it would announce $ 50 billion worth of deals from Hyundai to Halliburton companies.

And in a clear message to Washington, the Saudi media paid special attention to a Russian fund manager close to President Vladimir Putin

It was a tacit recollection of the world that could become the crown prince at age 33 Produced by Turkey, he stopped in front of the video cameras in a palace in Riyadh to pay his condolences at a carefully staged handshake with Mr. Khashoggi's son Salah

Salah Khashoggi, who was not allowed to leave the kingdom, looked tormented. His father was a well-known critic of the Crown Prince and a growing number of current and former Western officials with experience in the kingdom have said that the Crown Prince almost certainly authorized the assassination.

His son seemed to have little option of a handshake broadcast on Saudi media.

The Crown Prince "has definitely created a climate of fear within the kingdom, and the killing of Khashoggi has only compounded that," said Bruce Riedel, a former US intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia

The investors' conference took place in the same hotel which the prince used as a jail last year to arrest some 200 businessmen and royals as he squeezed them to turn over billions of dollars of unclaimed corruption

But if the crown prince's power is unchallenged within the kingdom Mr Erdogan also made it clear on Tuesday that he has no intention of taking anything back. It seems to be an escalating campaign that discredits the Crown Prince in the eyes of much of the rest of the world.

In his first public statements on allegations of Mr. Khashoggi's killing, Mr. Erdogan on Tuesday accused this as soon as possible diplomats at the consulate knew Mr. Khashoggi would come back for a document, one flew back to Riyadh, where "one Road map was set up. " Then a team of 15 Saudi agents flew to Istanbul ambushed on October 2.

"It is clear that this brutal murder did not happen immediately, but was planned," Erdogan said, directly attacking the Saudi report and "maximum sentences "demanded.

Other Turkish officials spoke on condition of anonymity, they have already left out more details allegedly coming from confidential information: within minutes of Khashoggi's arrival at the consulate, the team killed and dismembered him. Reports that the team had a high-profile Saudi doctor specializing in autopsies and brought a bone saw to the consulate have given the crown prince, often known as MBS, a new nickname – Mr. Bone Saw.

"The Saudis are under pressure They can not buy their way out of that time," said Aaron David Miller, a former State Department official and scientist at the Wilson Center. "Neither their oil nor their money will be able to extinguish the stain or silence the joy of their enemies, including Erdogan."

Mr. Erdogan's speech on Tuesday seemed to be directed primarily at an audience of two: King Salman, the Crown Prince's aging father, and President Trump.

Mr. Erdogan has twice awarded King Salman praise and honor.

"I do not doubt the sincerity of King Salman," he said.

The king is the only one in Saudi Arabia who has the power of noticing an act of violence, Mr. Erdogan seemed to try to split them.

Without mentioning the name of Prince Mohammed, "Mr. Erdogan differentiated between King Salman and all the other suspects in Saudi Arabia," said Yasin Aktay, an adviser to President Erdogan and a senior official of his ruling Justice and Development Party. "He said that he asks for it and he expects the king to address the demands for justice."

He also respectfully cited a recent phone call with President Trump.

"We have agreed to bring light into every aspect of the problem," said Mr. Erdogan.

Two people who are close to Mr. Erdogan and speak on the condition of anonymity to discuss talks with the President said he believes That Mr. Trump's persuasion to leave Prince Mohammed would be a prerequisite for any attempt (19659002) Turkish officials have brought graphic leaks into the news media about Mr. Khashoggi's killing, in part, to try to dispel American public opinion and, therefore, Mr. Trump to turn against Prince Mohammed.

Still in the White House against the prince seems unlikely, in part because the son-in-law of President and Middle East adviser Jared Kushner has invested deeply in Prince Mohammed as a pillar of government strategies to both to contain Iran as well as safe Israel

Prince Mohammed had a photo session with Minister of Finance Steven Mnu on Monday Chin grinned, and his visit seemed to convey the continued support of the White House, despite Mr. Trump's comments.

Mr. Erdogan understands that, said the two close to him. But he has obviously calculated that the chance of weakening Prince Mohammed by molesting him with killing Khashoggi is worth the risk of confronting him as a hostile ruler of Saudi Arabia for the next 50 years.